Sir, - Dr Mowlam may well find herself facing a Unionist legal challenge over her decision that the IRA cease-fire has not broken down. The SDLP, having offered no objection, suggests, however, that if she were to clarify her position there might be a reasonable chance of obtaining cross-community support and eliminate the risk that a legal challenge will delay George Mitchell's review.
The problem, as I see it, is that she has not made clear just how many Catholics the IRA is permitted to kill without being considered in breach of their cessation. She has hinted, merely by indicating that there had been a difficult decision to make in the first place, that it may be as few as one every couple of months or so, more or less the current rate. Such a modest culling of Catholics has little attraction in itself for unionists, and it is understandable that they would choose instead to make political capital out of it.
Suppose that instead she were to be bold, and set an absolutely firm upper limit of 100 per month. Even at that rate - given that a several times that number would undoubtedly flee the North in order to avoid execution - the unionists could anticipate a sufficiently positive demographic effect to find the killings to their long-term advantage, and withdraw their objections. No one else would object - since it is now only ever Unionists that attempt to frustrate the IRA - and the parties would then be able to enter the Mitchell Review with what is now a source of disagreement converted into a common objective. - Yours, etc.,
William Hunt, Harold's Cross Road, Dublin 6W.